In this week's Art Talk (aired on KCRW 89.9 FM in Los Angeles and also delivered as an e-mail newsletter) Edward Goldman examines the resplendent work of African artist El Anatsui, who flattens cast-off screw tops and sews them together with copper wire to fashion metallic tapestries that resemble luminous waves and command entire walls. To take a look at El Anatsui's work that drew rave reviews at the Venice Biennale visit his Web site at http://www.elanatsui.com
and don't miss Edward Goldman's always engaging commentary at http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/at

And on the domestic front, the little bird Phoenix is still alive.
Maureen

A planned exhibit of ancient gold objects from Afghanistan is stirring controversy, because the National Geographic Society negotiated a deal that experts say shortchanged the government of Afghanistan. “It’s a travesty,” says Lynne Munson, the former chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, who is quoted in an article in today’s New York Times.

The arrangement calls for Afghanistan to receive $1 million plus 40 per cent of expected revenue, once expenses have been deducted. Munson argues that 40 percent would be “40 percent of absolutely nothing” because transport, insurance, and installation costs would be so high. When the National Geographic Society four years ago negotiated a similar deal with Egypt for the Treasures of Tutankhamen, the Egyptian government was assured $10 million for every city the show toured, as well as 50 percent of the gross revenue. Thomas Hoving, the former director of the Met and no stranger to blockbuster shows, said Afghanistan should have held out for more cash. Ana Rosa Rodriguez, executive director of the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan’s Cultural Heritage, feels that the National Geographic Society is taking advantage of a country that has endured decades of devastation, suffering, and upheaval.

These ancient artifacts, many of Bactrian gold, were salvaged from a bank vault beneath a former royal palace in Kabul in 2004. Curators of the Kabul Museum shielded the artifacts, at great personal risk, from the Taliban and from earlier insurgents, later insurrections, and the American occupation. On display now at the Musee Guimet in Paris, the exhibit will open at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and then travel to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Asian Museum in San Francisco, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The artifacts are part of the treasure of Tilya Tepe, the Hill of Gold, near the Oxus River in northern Afghanistan. To read more about the excavation of these ancient objects, go to http://www.news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/11/1117_041117_afghan_treasure.html.
To see images from the show in Paris, go to http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6215002.stm.
--Maureen Bloomfield

In the June 2007 issue of The Artist's Magazine, we showcase the theatrical, engaging paintings of Kenney Mencher, who is an associate professor of art and art history at Ohlone College in Fremont, California. "Variations on a Theme," written by Kenney himself, describes how he took a humble glass of water, arranged characters/models who were often his friends around the glass, and then painted a series of scenes that were outlandishly ordinary and wildly funny. Kenney is the subject of a recent blog by Steve-O, who has a site called "The Caravan of Dreams," named after a performing arts center in Fort Worth. Steve's interview with Kenney is entertaining and informed. Click on http://www.thecaravanofdreams.blogspot.com/2007/05/interview-with-kenney-mencher.html.
And Kenney has his own wonderful Web site, where he posts pictures of works in progress at http://www.kenney-mencher.com.
--Maureen Bloomfield

Hoping to beat out the the most expensive guitar ever sold (Eric Clapton's Stratocaster, which went for $959,500), modern artist Mark Ryden's handpainted Dean ML electric guitar is being auctioned off on eBay. Ryden's work is a combination of cute/disturbing with paintings of big-eyed children in dream-like scenarios. The money rasied from the auction will go to Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides low-income children with free instruments and music lessons. The auction and a benefit concert are part of the exhibit called Six String Masterpieces. Today is the final day of the auction, but you can see the handpainted guitar unstrung and strung, below. You can also see more of Ryden's fantastical art at www.markryden.com.
--Lisa